DUFFY: Keeping Cochran at home a huge step for UConn

As we venture into a new era of UConn football, I think most fans in the state are quick to forget something: Paul Pasqualoni has some pretty big shoes to fill.

Say what you will about Randy Edsall (yes, he should have handled his departure in a more professional manner), but the guy was a tremendous -- I'm talking top-of-the-line -- football coach. When he took over in 1999, UConn was playing at Memorial Stadium, a dump with concrete bleachers located behind Gampel Pavilion. When he boarded that plane to Maryland on Jan. 1, 2011, he left behind a Big East conference champion that practiced at a $48 million facility.

Edsall is solely responsible for the relevance of UConn football. The guy molded a string of solid, opportunistic teams and consistently turned one-and-two star recruits into NFL draftees. If there's one viable knock on Edsall, it's that he didn't recruit well in-state.

That will not be the case with Pasqualoni. This weekend was proof.

Late Sunday afternoon, Masuk quarterback Casey Cochran, the reigning Gatorade Connecticut Player of the Year and the state's consensus top recruit, gave a verbal commitment to Pasqualoni and the Huskies, who had offered him just two days prior.

The story appeared here in The Connecticut Post and The Stamford Advocate, as well several UConn blogs, ESPN.com, CBSSports.com and every other big-time college football media outlet.

Anyway you slice it, sealing a commitment from Cochran is a very, very big deal. It's undoubtedly Pasqualoni's most important signing and, quite frankly, the most significant in the program's history. More significant than Donald Brown, Jordan Todman and even Dan Orlovsky.

Now, I'm not guaranteeing that Cochran, a three-star recruit and the No. 39 quarterback in the country by ESPN, will have an Orlovsky-like career. I mean, Orlovsky started all four years and threw for 10,706 yards and 84 touchdowns. At one point, there was serious discussion -- amongst national media -- that he'd be a top 10 pick in the NFL Draft. It would be unfair to just assume that Cochran will have a similar career.

Is it possible? Sure. There's a chance that he'll arrive in Storrs, grab the starting job from Day One and surgically pick apart defenses the same way he does at Masuk. But it's also possible that he'll get beat out by Scotty McCummings or Michael Nebrich and transfer. There's no real way of knowing.

Here's what I do know about Casey Cochran: I was more or less on the Masuk beat last year as a high school football reporter. I watched Cochran and Masuk embarrass at least five SWC teams -- and then do the same to state powerhouse New Canaan in the 2010 Class L title game. Casey Cochran has a tremendous arm. He can hit a receiver in stride 50 yards down the field. Then again, he had the world's best protection. He was rarely touched, let alone sacked.

He's a heady player, a kid who has mastered Masuk's offense and always knows where to attack a certain defense. He's almost an extension of the coach on the field. But he's also about 6-feet tall. He doesn't have great mobility by any means and may have trouble finding windows to throw against Big East defenses. On the other hand, he's a winner, a tremendous worker and, for good reason, the most well-respected high school football player in the state.

Right now, I assure you his signing will influence kids on the fence -- the players deciding between Rutgers, Boston College and UConn -- to consider staying home. Cochran has that kind of charisma. He's that big a name in this state. If he happens to grab the starting job as a freshman or sophomore -- and he happens to excel (like Orlovsky) -- the floodgates will open. That's when the blue-chip Connecticut guys will be at UConn.

And, for everything Edsall accomplished, he never could lure those kids to Storrs. Even after Orlovsky's record-setting four years, the state's elite talent always eluded Edsall. As a result, so did a Top 25 ranking in the final polls.

Four of those guys are in the NFL. At least three others have a shot. That's a major selling point to in-state stars. If you can keep a few of those kids here, others follow suit. It's a Domino effect. And Casey Cochran, the state's first top-ranked player to commit to UConn in 11 years, is that initial domino.

Without a doubt, there's a great deal of pressure on Pasqualoni in these next few years. He's expected to improve upon -- not sustain -- the foundation built by Randy Edsall. After all, 7-5 and 8-4 gets old. Getting shelled by Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl is nice, but how about winning a BCS game?